THE FAERY WOMAN
Fionn had two wise and swift hounds, called Bran and Sgeolan, that he loved beyond all else, and this is how he gained possession of them.
One summer when he was at his dún on the Hill of Allen, his mother Muireen, accompanied by her young and beautiful sister Tuirenn, came to visit them. At this time some captains of the Ulster Fianna were also visiting Fionn, and among them was one named Illan Echta. Illan thought that never before had he seen any one so fair as Tuirenn, with her eyes blue as the speedwell, and hair the colour of ripe corn, and before all things in the world he loved her and wished to marry her, so that she might be always with him. After some days he went to Fionn, and said to him:
"Soon, O Fionn, I must return to Ulster, and before I go I would ask you to give me Tuirenn in marriage, for I love her, and desire above all things to take her back with me to my home."
Fionn, as head of his clan, had power to bestow or withhold his consent in such matters, so he said to Illan:
"Do you know that Tuirenn belongs to the folk of the Sidhe, and I can only give her to you on certain conditions namely, that she shall be restored safely to me whenever I may send for her, and that you shall go surety for her safety?"
"Do you think she will not be safe with me?" inquired Illan indignantly. "Yet, because she is dearer to me than everything I possess, I will willingly agree to your conditions." Then, with an anxious note in his voice, he asked: "Have you any reason to think that through me, or any of my kinsfolk, harm will come to Tuirenn?"
"I have heard that Uchtdealb, who is also a woman of the Sidhe, has given you her love," Fionn answered, "and perhaps through her jealousy some harmful thing may happen to Tuirenn."
"Do not fear for Tuirenn; I will always guard her with the greatest care and love, remembering that if anything evil happens to her my life will be forfeit to you," said Illan boldly; yet secretly he felt some misgivings when he thought of Uchtdealb, for she belonged to the faery race, and, if she chose, had power for either good or evil over human life.
On that understanding Fionn gave Tuirenn to Illan, though he would not let her accompany her husband when he returned to Ulster, but arranged to send her afterwards with a guard of his most trusted Fian chiefs.
A little time elapsed after the departure of Illan, then Fionn called his son Oisin, and Caeilté and Goll mac Morna, and gave them orders to take Tuirenn to her husband's home. They found Illan anxiously watching for them, but before Goll gave Tuirenn into his hands he reminded Illan of the conditions Fionn had imposed on him, and Illan swore by the sun and the wind that he would guard her as his greatest treasure.
Autumn and winter passed, and the green spring-time was over everything. In every wood and coppice the songs of blackbirds and thrushes were heard, and all the little creatures of air and earth rejoiced in the sunlight and warm breezes. Tuirenn, too, sang as she sat in the wide sunny window of her room, stitching at her embroidery, and looking sometimes over the plain before her.
She was alone with her maids just now, for a few days before Illan had received a message calling him away; but any hour now he might return. Very reluctantly he had left Tuirenn, for in his heart of hearts he feared that Uchtdealb, the faery woman who loved him, would at some time or other put an enchantment on the woman he loved and had made his wife; so before leaving he charged her maids to watch her well, and allow no stranger near her.
A shadow fell across Tuirenn's work, and looking up she saw, standing by her side, a tall fair girl, with a strange look in her eyes which, to Tuirenn, seemed to betoken some hidden enmity. Tuirenn looked at her closely, wondering who she could be; then she glanced at her maids, but they seemed unconscious of the stranger's presence among them, and did not even hear her when she spoke.
"Fair princess," said the girl, "I am a messenger from Fionn, who sends you greetings, and desires to speak with you in the wood yonder. Come with me and I will lead you to him."
Tuirenn wondered as she listened to the girl. It was not like Fionn to send such a message, but she thought that perhaps, for reasons unknown to her, he could not come to the house. She followed the girl from the room, and her women looked up as she passed, but still did not see the stranger.
When they came to the edge of the wood Tuirenn said:
"I do not remember having seen you before. What is your name, and do you belong to the Clan Basna? "
The girl looked at Tuirenn, and there was a wicked light in her eyes as she answered:
"Have you not heard of me? I am Uchtdealb the Fair. Illan was my husband before he was yours, but when he saw you he put me away from him, and gave you my place. All these months I have been planning vengeance, and now the time has come to take it. Shall I tell you what it is? I am going to put a spell on you, and change you into the form of a hound, and your life shall be spent in chasing wild animals. You shall suffer, too, for your mind I will not change, and your thoughts will be as before—of Illan and Fionn and all your lost friends."
Tuirenn shrank away in fear from the girl; then she thought of Fionn and his heroes, and her courage returned.
"If you do this thing to me," she said, "Fionn will know, and will be revenged on you, even though he has to hunt through the whole world to find you. Remember that through his mother he too belongs to the faery race, and has power, and whatever spell you place on me he will surely make you remove. So I have no fear of you."
Uchtdealb was furious with Tuirenn for speaking in such a fearless manner, and could not restrain her anger. With a little carved yew stick she carried in her hand she struck Tuirenn, and cried:
"Hound you shall be, and hound you shall remain."
Instantly Tuirenn was transformed into a beautiful white hound, with black markings on her sides and back, and soft brown eyes that looked up piteously in Uchtdealb's face. But the enchantress, slipping a golden collar on her neck, held her in leash, and in that manner led her to the house of a man named Fergus Fionnlia. Of all houses it was the worst to take her to, for in the whole of Ireland there was not another man like Fergus, who hated dogs, and would never keep one with him.
When Uchtdealb saw him she said:
"At last Fionn has sent you one of his hounds to mind, Fergus Fionnlia. And he charges you to maintain her well, and not let her scour the whole country hunting game for your pot."
Fergus was very angry when he heard this message.
"Doesn't Fionn know very well that the one thing in this world I dislike more than another is a dog?" he said. "I am surprised that he should send one to me. However, as he has never quartered any on me before I will take care of her, and guard her as well as I can."
Uchtdealb departed, thinking that poor enchanted Tuirenn would not have much comfort or happiness with Fergus. But Fergus grew to love the hound very much; she was so swift that no animal, however fleet it was, escaped her when she went hunting, and her intelligence was so great that Fergus was often astonished at the manner in which she seemed to understand every word he uttered.
The weeks passed by, and when the hound had been with Fergus for about two months she gave birth to two puppies; little white and black things, that rolled and tumbled over each other in a quaint, helpless manner, which Fergus was never tired of watching.
In the meantime it came to Fionn's know-
THE ENCHANTRESS, SLIPPING A GOLDEN COLLAR ON HER NECK, HELD HER IN LEASH
ledge that Tuirenn was not with Illan, and no one knew what had become of her. So Fionn sent a swift messenger to Illan, bidding him come to the Hill of Allen at once.
"Where is Tuirenn, your wife?" asked Fionn sternly when Illan arrived.
"She has disappeared," answered Illan, "and no man or woman of my house knows where she has gone."
"You have not guarded her as you promised to do," said Fionn. "You must search for her, and when she is found bring her immediately to me; she shall not return to your house again. If she is not discovered within a week you will lose your life."
"Give me more time," Illan pleaded. "Already my trackers have been up and down through Ireland, and have found no trace of her, but I will try other means now."
He went from Fionn and journeyed northward to the house of the Sidhe where Uchtdealb lived, on the borders of Ulster.
"Tuirenn has gone from me, and Fionn has demanded her back," Illan said to the faery woman, "and unless you can help me by your art, and tell me where she is hidden, my head will not be on my shoulders much longer."
"I can help you," said Uchtdealb, "but I wish you to make me a promise first."
"I will promise anything," said Illan, after a moment's hesitation, "if you will help me to find Tuirenn. What is it you wish?"
"Well," said the woman of the Sidhe, "I will take you to Tuirenn on condition that you make me your wife again when she has returned to the Clan Basna."
"I give you my promise I will," Illan answered. "Now take me straightway to Tuirenn."
Uchtdealb conducted Illan to the house where Fergus lived, and said that Fionn had sent for the hound she had left with him. Very unwillingly Fergus brought both the hound and her puppies; he had become so attached to them that he would have liked to keep them always.
Then Uchtdealb spoke to the hound, saying:
"For the sake of Illan, whom I love, I forgo my vengeance on you, and I bid you resume your form. But over your children I have no power, and they will always remain hounds."
She touched the enchanted animal with her little yew rod; and immediately it changed into Tuirenn, to the unbounded amazement of Fergus and Illan. But Illan was very glad that Tuirenn was found, for now his life would not be forfeit to Fionn; and the next day he took her and the puppies to Fionn, and told him how they were born while their mother was under an enchantment.
Great anger came on Fionn as he listened.
"Were it not for my word that you should go safely when Tuirenn was found, I would kill you where you stand," he said; "but from henceforth, until the day of your death, there shall be enmity between your house and mine. Go now, and remember that it will be an evil day for you should we ever stand opposed to each other on the battlefield."
Illan was glad to go, for no one cared to face Fionn's terrible wrath. I think that Fionn killed Illan in after years, for though he might forgive a wrong to himself, he would certainly not forgive a wrong to a woman.
When the puppies grew up, Bran and Sgeolan, as Fionn named them, proved to be the wisest and swiftest of all the hounds of the Fianna, and two of the greatest treasures Fionn ever possessed. His third great treasure was Cnu Deireoil, the faery musician who came to him at Slieve-na-man.